"Magnet therapies which are claimed to cure conditions ranging from back pain to cancer have no proven benefits, according to a team of US researchers. Sales of the so-called therapeutic devices , which are worn in bracelets, insoles, and wrist and knee bands, top $1 billion worldwide, they said. But a major review showed no benefits, a British Medical Journal report said. The team also warned self-treatment with magnets risked leaving underlying medical conditions untreated. Professor Leonard Finegold of Drexel University in Philadelphia and Professor Bruce Flamm of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in California said turning to magnetic therapies could also cause 'financial harm'. "Money spent on expensive and unproved magnet therapy might be better spent on evidence based medicine," their report said." Dr Max Pittler, research fellow in complementary medicine at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, said: "Although the authors cite only selected studies to back up their statements, also a systematic assessment comes to the conclusion that the evidence is not compelling for the effectiveness of static magnets for reducing pain above non-specific effects." BBC News (6th January 2006) [See link immediately below for an editorial on the British Medical Journal report]